Hands-On With Capcom vs. SNK (Import)

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It's here, and it's angry ¿ but does it put the Neo-Geo Pocket version to shame?

By IGN Staff

In this industry, it's a rarity whenever two rival companies get together to collaborate on a new game. Actually, it's almost unheard of. So when both Capcom and SNK announced that they were going to buddy up to produce an uber-fighting game on the NAOMI chipset (and on the Neo-Geo Pocket Color), fans rejoiced in the newfound union. We could now finally see if Ken can beat Terry Bogard in a fair match, and watch Mai and Chun-Li clobber each other in a catfight of holy implications. Match of the Millenium: Capcom vs. SNK was released on the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, and automatically set the standard as one of the best handheld games ever committed to cartridge. But could Capcom and SNK recreate that genre-dominance in the arcade market? Weee! What a predicament. In any case, a near-finished version of Capcom vs. SNK popped up at Plaza Capcom in Tokyo this past Friday, and IGN was there... along with the entire Capcom/SNK fanbase of Japan. Throngs of gamers surrounded the machine on test (a double-cabinet with one player per side), forming a three-hour waiting queue. Judging by this near-complete version of the game, Capcom vs. SNK is gonna be a doozy. There are mammoth rosters from both King of Fighters and Street Fighter universes, and a crazy 3D character select-screen that lets you pick between two gameplay styles ¿ Capcom or SNK Groove (note that the game uses the SNK-style four-button layout). What tickles me pink about the game is how the character-select art roles were reversed ¿ the SNK guys drew all the Capcom fighters, and vice-versa.

The game varies from one-on-one to three-on-three team battles, though I didn't see any tag-team action going on. The game balances out each character's power and life bar depending on the number of characters on your team, so a singular Ryu can hold his own against a three-man team-up of Andy, Terry, and Geese (I watched as one diligent player fended off team attacks for a good half-hour). It's also a riot to watch the Capcom guys do the generic SNK "power-up" animations, where they pose with a constipated expression on their faces as energy flows into them from the ground. Awesome. Oddly enough, there are also mini-games! Before one match started, each player had to go play a quick, fifteen-second racing game that looked like a primitive version of OutRun. I have no idea what effect this has on gameplay, but it's definitely a little diversion. While the gameplay seems just as balanced as any other big-name Capcom or SNK release, the game is not anything to write home about in terms of technical wow. The game is still in low resolution. Doooooh! Not only that, but the animation is regulated to the level of a CPS2 (or average Neo-Geo) fighting game, making me long for that crazy liquid-smooth motion of Street Fighter III. Strangely, all of the backgrounds are strictly 2D (there's not even any parallaxing on the floors). Both Capcom and SNK have managed to pull off stupid amounts of animation on the Dreamcast with hyper-detailed 3D BG's, and kept 'em running without slowdown, so we're wondering what's going on here.

Most of the SNK crew (and some of the Capcom fighters) have received graphical touch-ups. Some characters have been redrawn in a style that's a mix between Capcom's exaggerated anime look and SNK's more realistic designs. Ken and Ryu are certainly looking pimp as ever, and Blanka has an edgier appearance than before. Strangely, some characters simply re-use their Street Fighter Alpha 3 animation ¿ Sakura looks no different from her other incarnations. Continuity, people! This isn't M.U.G.E.N.! As of now, SNK vs. Capcom looks more than solid ¿ the combination of King of Fighters and Street Fighter universes is an awesome concept, though I wish the game would have attempted more on an artistic level. In any case, Capcom vs. SNK's near-simultaneous arcade/Dreamcast release is quickly approaching, so we'll hold off on final judgment until the final version is spinning in our DCs. Until then, check out the screenshots below and keep guessing. (Colin's note: My screenshots suck. I apologize. The Capcom Gestapo were running rampant at the test location, posting "NO PICTURES" signs everywhere, and patrolling the crowd to make sure we weren't planning on breaking open the cabinet with a crowbar, stealing the chipset, and dumping the ROMs and posting them on the net. All of the shots were taken from hip-level from a camera that had to be hidden underneath a notebook. Very lame. We've also posted some fresh scans and art from Dreamcast Magazine, which are substantially better.)-- Colin "Email me if you live in Tokyo and you're not scary" Williamson, IGN Dreamcast